From the Chief Editor

A warm welcome to the new academic year and to those who have just joined us at the NUS Law Faculty, congratulations for having made it to law school. We at the Singapore Law Review (“SLR”) hope that perusing this first issue of the Juris Illuminae will be the perfect way to kick-start your year. As you might have noticed, Juris has taken on a new façade to provide for an easier and more fulfilling read. Colin Ng & Partners has also generously sponsored the newsletter this year and we look forward to closely working together with them in making Juris the choice platform for legal discourse and discussion.

This year promises to be an exciting one for the SLR. On the 20th of August, the SLR is conducting its annual Recruitment Tea and we would like to invite all budding writers and editors to attend. An organisation is, after all, only as good as its members. A scrumptious line-up of events, both old and new, is also in the works and we will release more details as the year progresses.

This issue of Juris examines the realm of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”), in view of the fact that dispute resolution methods like mediation and arbitration are fast becoming popular substitutes to old-styled litigation and now often employed in mutual tandem. Within the folds are an introductory article for the uninitiated as well as interviews with Michael Hwang S.C., one of Singapore’s most well-known arbitrators and A/P Joel Lee, convenor of the negotiations course at the NUS Law Faculty. There is also a write-up on the NUS Peer Mediation Team and a discussion of pertinent problems facing enforceability of mediation clauses in commercial contracts. For a lighter read, we have included an interview with Prof. Thio Li-ann and Dr Tan Seow Hon on their transition from teacher-and-student to colleagues at the Faculty.

The Review is also actively inviting members to its Juris Writing Cell. Should you feel strongly about certain issues and wish to write and be published to a sizeable audience, please feel free to drop us a line.

With that, I wish you a great academic year ahead.

Jeth Lee

Read the Print Version of Juris here: Juris August 2007.Articles in this issue

  • “I’ll see you… at mediation!” by Zhong Zewei

ADR includes negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Negotiation consists of interactions between disputants, with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable outcome. Mediation is similar, except for the added presence of a neutral usually assuming a facilitative role. In arbitration, the neutral (the ‘arbitrator’) decides in one party’s favour. [Read More...]

  • Joel’s Preferred Way by Ruth Yeo

Associate Professor Joel Lee co-trained the first batch of mediators for the Singapore Mediation Center (SMC). He is one of the principal mediators on its team. He is also involved in conducting mediation workshops and consultation work. In addition, he serves as Associate Editor of the Asian Journal of Mediation. [Read More...]

  • Mediation Clauses: An Eagle Finding Its Wings by Jeth Lee

With alternative dispute resolution’s surging popularity in recent years, particularly with regard to its cost saving and non-adversarial methodology, it is now commonplace to find mandatory dispute resolution clauses in standard commercial contracts. While it used to be the case that arbitration was the poison of choice for parties who wished to delay or circumvent litigation, other forms of dispute resolution such as mediation have gained a name for themselves with their high rates of success and admirable ability to preserve fragile commercial relationships. [Read More...]

  • Interview with Michael Hwang, S.C. by Rajaram Vikram Raja

The career path for one who is interested in domestic arbitration is different from one who is interested in international arbitration. Domestic arbitration is not normally a career choice in itself. It is usually ancillary to the practice of say construction law because most construction contract disputes are resolved through arbitration. [Read More...]

  • No Ordinary Colleagues by Tan An Qi

They were teacher and student and are now colleagues in NUS Faculty of Law. Feel awkward? Professor Thio Li-ann, “not at all, it has been a great pleasure to have my former students like her, become my present colleagues.” Dr Tan Seow Hon, “Other than when I initially found it hard to call her by her first name in the first few months, no.” [Read More...]

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution In Brief by Li Daming

The arbitrator looks into the legal rights and wrongs of a dispute and makes a decision. Once the arbitrator has arrived at a decision, it is binding on parties whether they agree with it or not. [Read More...]

  • Pro-Bono: Peer Mediation Team by Kevin Ho

The NUS Law School Peer Mediation Team was initially formed as a prelude to the ultimate goal of forming Singapore’s first student-based Peer Mediation Clinical Programme. From the modest membership of 3 law students during its inception in 2004, our team now boasts a total of approximately 20 dedicated individuals who actively participate in our Mediation and Conflict Resolution programmes and workshops targeting the Singaporean youth. Assisting the students is As/P Lim Lei Theng, a brilliant litigator and experienced mediator, who has graciously offered her time to conduct courses and training sessions for both the student-facilitators and participants of our workshops. [Read More...]